BABYCHAM NIGHT: A BOYHOOD AT THE END OF THE PIER

Philip Norman’s family considered themselves genteel yet somehow became involved in the opportunistic world of seaside trade on the Isle of Wight. Norman recreates his upbringing among this gallery of social misfits – his handsome but unstable father Clive, once a dashing RAF officer, now a reluctant showman at the end of Ryde Pier, his pub-owning Uncle Phil, who dresses as a woman every New Year’s Eve, and his irresistible Grandma Norman who presides over her rock kiosk and rules the troubled family like a Mafia don. The year is 1953. The coronation creates a mood of national optimism and euphoria, reflected in the bubbly new drink called Babycham. But while Britain celebrates, ten-year-old Philip watches disaster approach in his father’s growing obsession with Joan, the Bronze Medal roller skating champion. Finally, he concocts a stratagem to win his parent’s attention which explodes spectacularly in his face.